Perspective

Britain announced in 2014 it had sealed a deal to expand and reinforce its naval presence in Bahrain, allowing it to operate more and bigger ships in the Gulf The United Kingdom opened a permanent military base in Bahrain on Thursday, Bahrain’s state news agency BNA reported. The ceremony formally opening the U.K. Naval…

Ankara summit focuses on Syria’s fate once war ends The leaders of Iran, Turkey and Russia met this week in Ankara to discuss potential political solutions to the Syrian civil war, while solidifying their positions as decision-makers, working to settle their own differences and agreeing to counter external “challengers” in the Syrian peace process:…

UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the West’s silence over Israel’s killing of over 30 Palestinians during anti-occupation rallies in the Gaza Strip. Corbyn read a message at a rally on Saturday outside Downing Street in London, saying “The silence from international powers with the responsibility of bringing a just settlement of…

By Boaventura de Sousa Santos* The German word Zeitgeist has come to be used in different languages to designate the cultural, intellectual and moral climate of a given moment – literally, the spirit of the times, or the combination of beliefs and ideas that make up the specificity of a given historical period.…

Fifteen years ago this month, the United States spearheaded a fantastically bloody war on Iraq as part of its ongoing effort to ensure the Iraqi nation’s perpetual misery. Straight-up carnage aside, there were some other more trivial yet still “spectacularly unsavoury” results of the invasion, as veteran journalist Patrick Cockburn recalls: “Soon after US occupation…

The appointment of Mike Pompeo as the new secretary of state is a perfect choice for US President Donald Trump. Pompeo can satisfy Trump’s ideological views and will provide him with the courage to fulfil a dream he has repeatedly expressed since his election campaign: the destruction of the Iran nuclear deal. The core issue It…

A quarter century has passed since the illegal demolition on December 6 1992 of the Babri Masjid, a Muslim place of worship at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh by an unruly mob of Hindu volunteers, in the presence of BJP leaders LK Advani and others. The event was followed by a trajectory of colossal violence targeting Muslims marked…

New Delhi: During the first week of January last year, a group of scholars gathered in a white bungalow on a leafy boulevard in central New Delhi. The focus of their discussion: how to rewrite the history of the nation. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had quietly appointed the committee of scholars about six…

OCCUPIED WEST BANK – Sometimes, 18-year old Mohammad dreams that he is back in Ofer military prison. “I remember my friends in prison. I feel that I am in there again,” the young Palestinian said softly, looking down as he recalled the eight months he spent imprisoned by Israel between 2016 and 2017. She lost her childhood…

For three bewildering days, London is getting a glimpse of what it will feel like to live in post-Brexit, or shrinking, Britain. In scenes similar to Pyongyang or Bishek, the Great Leader’s portrait has appeared on billboards all over the capital. Neo-liberals in the media had been duly primed and groomed to welcome his arrival.…